Being unemployed is awful, and I may be joining you myself. My boss yesterday informed me that the second I graduate in May she has to fire me, but "hopefully", "maybe" she might be able to hire me. So I am shitting my pants a little bit.

And in case that makes no sense, Pharmacists can't be employed as pharmacy technicians, so I am praying that I can get the upgrade instead of getting the boot.

I'm sorry to hear that, but for what it's worth your full time can be posting on DTF. We don't pay much, or anything at all but what we do give is lots of discussions about whether MP will actually come back to DT.

tl;dr - my job was eliminated; got a wonderful separation package; taking some serious me/family time for the foreseeable future.

I work(ed) for a $26B company that has (er, had) 2 operating groups... one 'technology', and one 'electronics'. Back in September, a competitor of ours announced they were were buying the technology group, which I was a part of. The acquisition didn't officially close until Monday of this week. Tuesday, I (along with 20 other team-mates) got the call that our group was being eliminated. There were also other job actions taken - all told, 60 people in North America. There were a lot of indicators that the writing was on the wall over the past few months, and it got REAL clear last week that things weren't going to be rosy in anyway for me or our team - whether we were kept, or ultimately as it turned out, through workforce reduction. To tell you the truth, things haven't been rosy for quite sometime. My job has been more of a frustration and burden than anything else for about the last 6-12 months. There's always frustrations in any job/company, but up until last year, the joys and pleasures that came along with my job always outweighed the frustrations. Then, sometime last year, that coin flipped and I haven't been happy for a real long time (as some of you know). I could probably write a short novel on the issues, but it's not necessary. Pay, boss, lack of internal support, unrealistic and unachievable expectations, to name a few. Then, everything for a most areas of the company became an absolute shit-show after the announcement of the acquisition back in September. In some regards, that was the beginning of the end - because if not for the acquisition, it is without doubt that the reductions that took place on Tuesday would have happened September 28th, not February 28th. Now, a lot of this is natural in an merger/acquisition, so it is what it is. I have no hard feelings or take any of this personally in any way, shape or form.

In an odd way, I've kinda been waiting for, and wanting, this for a while. And for those that don't know, Canada has some very liberal/socialistic labour laws. That + 15 years of service = a very comfortable separation package. So, no apologies, sympathies or condolences are needed in any way. Unless something presents itself that is the proverbial 'offer I can't refuse', I'm going to take at least a month or two (maybe more) of me and jingle.family time. I've never been affected by a workforce reduction, or fired, or without a job. This is the first time since I graduated university that I've been unemployed ... and I will take advantage of all the advantages of unemployment - while having total financial security. When I spoke with my financial advisor about the situation and my severance package, the first two words out of his month were "THAT'S FANTASTIC!". Now, I'm not sure if that was for my benefit, or for his own . Either way, I'm in no rush or hurry or worry about getting a job, or in a position where I have to be concerned about how to pay the bills. Through good luck, good fortune or good planning (or all of that), I'm in a very comfortable financial position.

So, now I can try and re-capture the 'old' me. As many of you know, I have depression, and every day is a struggle - some more than others. The burdens of the job have not helped that over the past while. I got the news about this at 10am on Tuesday. My instant reaction was 'relief'. By the end of the day, I was telling my friends and colleagues "I'm liberated". By the time I was out for a walk with Mrs.Jingle and the dogs at 11am Wednesday, I told her that I could physically feel the burden and weight coming off me. Literally - not figuratively - I could physically feel the relief. She said to me that when I got up that morning, both she and the jingle.kids could see, sense and feel the difference in me.

So, while not a happy thing, this is by no means a bad thing. The silver lining on this cloud is as big - if not bigger - than the cloud itself.

You're a good dude Chad and it's no surprise that you've landed solidly on your feet in the wake of this. I'm thrilled that the burden, both physical and mental is melting away and happy for you and the jingle family that those 'weights' are being removed from your life.

I have no doubts than when you make the choice to find a new job that you'll indeed find one....and you'll be in a better 'space'...which again, I'm glad you get the chance for a massive decompression from the events of the last year or so.

Well in one aspect if work was bearing down on you this may just be a blessing in disguise. Enjoy your time off! One of my friends dads was laid off in canada and he had a severance package that covered him for like 16 months off. He took a long vacation as well.

Well in one aspect if work was bearing down on you this may just be a blessing in disguise. Enjoy your time off! One of my friends dads was laid off in canada and he had a severance package that covered him for like 16 months off. He took a long vacation as well.

Hope to see you around more.

It isn't even a very good disguise! This is definitely a long overdue blessing. I didn't get 16 months, but close to it. And for those of you thinking ... just remember that our taxation system is a lot different. At my income range, I pay a blended (federal + provincial) income tax rate of 38% on my total income, and any income growth (raise, commissions earned etc..) is taxed at 53.5%.

Your story reads like it's all for the better, so without having been in a similar situation, I can imagine how you feel to a small extent. I hope for you that you can use the time you gain by not working in having some good times with your family and do nice stuff in general

Chad, I really wish there was a show scheduled down here that you would want to see so I could coax you down here again. Couldn't be happier about the burden being lifted from you. You are a special kind of dude for sticking it out under those conditions so long for your family. Really happy they are getting their dad/husband back as well.

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"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Chad, I really wish there was a show scheduled down here that you would want to see so I could coax you down here again. Couldn't be happier about the burden being lifted from you. You are a special kind of dude for sticking it out under those conditions so long for your family. Really happy they are getting their dad/husband back as well.

Thanks Bosk-man... they/we are all feeling the same way. If not for the new puppy that we just got, Mrs.Jingle and I would've loved to come down to the Bay area for shits and giggles. Hell, we might just do that sometime soon anyway. I have enough points to do it.

Thanks for the great idea. Don't be surprised if we decide to do it ... maybe after the kids are off for the summer.

Chad, I really wish there was a show scheduled down here that you would want to see so I could coax you down here again. Couldn't be happier about the burden being lifted from you. You are a special kind of dude for sticking it out under those conditions so long for your family. Really happy they are getting their dad/husband back as well.

Thanks Bosk-man... they/we are all feeling the same way. If not for the new puppy that we just got, Mrs.Jingle and I would've loved to come down to the Bay area for shits and giggles. Hell, we might just do that sometime soon anyway. I have enough points to do it.

Thanks for the great idea. Don't be surprised if we decide to do it ... maybe after the kids are off for the summer.

Give me a heads up if and when you do, I can check out our properties for a room.

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Quote from: nightmare_cinema

So should lonestar and I have babies or something now, is that how this works?